living off the grid

One thing that continues to appall me is the lack of things for children to do in a city. It seems that things either have to cost money which they will get from heir parents. Or they are accused of loitering. I've mentioned this before but it is funny that since the economic down turn there seems to be more kids paying out side. This is a good thing. Maybe we can counter obesity through poverty. Or something like that.

Joe's last question today really made me think. I love the idea of living off of the grid. Not that you are mooching but that you are enjoying life as a process not a product. What if we all made our own clothes instead of spending hours shopping? We would no longer have people in ambercrombie shirts that say dumb things and cost $80 but we would have the pride of making our own clothes. Yeah it would still cost a little money but more of it would be time.

At times I think we have let ideas like comparative advantage take over our lives and convince us that things are worth what they are priced at not their value.

irony

irony for me was simple today.

On sunday I made a phone call asking our music director what instrument I was playing for the service that morning. She instead told me the set list. Oe of the songs was entitled "nothing compares" I immediately thought of the Shane o'connor song and started singing it since I haven't heard it forever I couldn't remember the worlds just the verse " I went to the doctor and lalallalaal" We had a good laugh.

So I got home that night and looked up the song on pandora radio and ofcource it played a bunch of other stuff as well . And one of the songs was "Isn't Ironic" Again I hadn't heard this forever so I've been on the 80's retro thing for a few days. And today we heard that song again.

Kabakov

LET IT SNOW please

NO snow is bad bad bad on so many levels. I know there isn't anything that we can do about it accept blame China for releasing so many green house gasses into the atmosphere. But if our mountains don't start building up some snow here soon those problems are going to compound. Let me explain how this stretches beyond the realm on skier and snowboarders.

If we have no snow like we did I believe years ago we are going to have to buy electricity from other states that produce it using coal or other sources. indeed our great renewable resource may not be renewed this year. The reality is that there is no quick solution. But what makes me even sadder is that the media seems not to care. In fact most people are unaware that this is really an issue most people would rather the winer be mild. Shame on you!!!

On an economic level Washington state sells a lot of our clean power (although it isn't "clean" under the new laws) to other states if we have none o sell our debt will grow even further.

So today please do a snow dance for all of us.


just for fun

yoko uno

Snow Piece One

Watch the snow fill the mountains in the fall
Return the following spring
Watch it all melt.

Count the flakes as they melt.

Autumn 2008


Water Project

Drink water from every source
Evaluate them for cleanliness
Report unclean water to the government

Demand they drink it if it is not cleaned up

Fall 2008

sounds

here is what I want to hear... Inside


what nature sounds like from William Knudsvig on Vimeo.


-Willko

the video for all who are interested.

the final from William Knudsvig on Vimeo.